Privacy Curtain

ABSTRACT

A privacy curtain comprises an attachment portion, a main panel formed of a non-transparent material and a mesh panel attached to the main panel and formed of strands of a mesh material defining a plurality of openings. The openings have an openness sufficient to allow the passage of water through the openings. The mesh material is preferably composed of a bi-directional polypropylene material which provides for 90% openness.

BACKGROUND

The present invention is concerned with curtains, particularly, but notexclusively, for cubicle or surgical curtains used to curtain off aparticular area such as an area where a patient is being examined ortreated.

Many types of curtains, curtain rail and curtain fastening systems areknown for a wide variety of uses.

Most curtains are attached to, or arranged to be attached to some formof curtain rail arrangement such that the curtain material can be openedout to form a ‘closed’ screen or folded or bunched together when ‘open’to allow access. Curtains can, however, be mounted in a permanentlyopened out ‘closed’ configuration.

In hospital environments or the like, curtains can be moveable fromplace to place. Curtains may be mounted on a moveable frame that can bemoved to different locations as needed. The curtain may be mounted in apermanently stretched, opened out (i.e. ‘closed’) state providing aportable screen or can be moveable, e.g. slidable, relative to the frameto open and close. In other arrangements, curtain rails may be affixedto e.g. walls, floors or ceilings and curtains may be removably mountedto the rails as desired, e.g., by means of hooks or clips attached, orattachable, to the top of the curtain.

Although curtains can, of course, be made of a very wide range ofmaterials, it is often desirable, particularly in hospital or similarenvironments, or in other public or non-domestic environments, for it tobe possible to wipe the curtains clean, in which case, plastic materialsor coated paper materials are practical choices. Traditional fabriccurtains require laundering.

It may also be desirable, or even necessary, in certain applications, touse disposable curtains that are only used once or a small number oftimes and are then thrown away and replaced. For reasons of cost and forenvironmental reasons, it is desirable that such curtains are relativelylow cost, light and, preferably, recyclable or biodegradable.

Some curtains are provided with holes or openings in the curtainmaterial. This may be desirable to reduce the cost and weight of thematerial and to reduce the amount of material in the curtains and,hence, the amount of waste when the curtain is disposed. In somesituations, it is actually a requirement, or an important safetyfeature, for holes to be provided in the curtain so that, in the eventof a fire, even when the curtains are closed, water from fire hoses orsprinkler systems or the like can pass through the curtains.

Fire and safety regulations often stipulate criteria for curtainmaterials. Safety standards often require curtain material in hospitalsor other public places to be fire retardant and, for example in the US,there may be requirements as to the degree of ‘openness’ of a curtainmaterial. It may be stipulated, for example, that at least a panel of acurtain material has 70% openness to allow fire extinguishing water topass through.

Attempts have been made to supply curtains, for use, for example, inhospitals that satisfy such requirements. One type of curtain includes apolyester mesh curtain drape of a panel of polyester mesh incorporatedwithin the curtain, preferably, but not necessarily, towards or at thetop of the curtain. This mesh is a woven material but, as it isdifferent from the rest of the curtain material, means that the entirecurtain cannot be efficiently recycled. Also, being a woven material,such meshes usually only provide up to about 50% openness.

An alternative solution has been provided by a complete, one-piececurtain (made e.g. of polypropylene or similar material for hospitals orthe like) with holes punched in the fabric. Again, however, suchcurtains do not have anything near 70% openness. Further, punching holesin existing fabric can be problematic and the remaining curtain materialwill be dramatically weakened.

A further alternative solution is a simple fabric curtain that is openat the top. Such curtains, however, require laundering and are notdisposable or recyclable.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a curtain comprising a mesh ofbi-oriented polypropylene.

Whilst the entire curtain could be made of bi-oriented polypropylene, ina preferred embodiment, the curtain comprises a drape and a panelcomprising a mesh of bi-oriented polypropylene—the mesh panel ispreferably provided at or towards the top of the curtain and ispreferably attached to or formed in the drape.

Preferably the drape is made of a polypropylene material to enable fullrecycling of the curtain without the need to separate the materials.Some of the advantages of the invention, however, are still provided ifthe drape material is not polypropylene, e.g., another plasticsmaterial, fabric, paper, etc.

The use of bi-oriented polypropylene, and especially attaching apre-manufactured polypropylene sheet or panel to a curtain drape, allowsthe mesh panel to comprise a very thin strand of material whilstretaining the desired rigidity and strength. In the preferred material,each strand is only 0.3 mm wide, thus allowing for around 90% opennessusing mesh with holes of approximately 6.8 mm×7.3 mm. Other size holesare also possible.

To meet fire retardancy requirements, the mesh can be provided with thefire retardant additives, coating or material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofexample only, and with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1A to 1D show prior art ‘mesh-top’ curtains.

FIG. 2 shows a section of a curtain.

FIG. 3 shows a partial view of the top of the curtain of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows a partial view of a curtain such as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIGS. 1A to 1D, various forms of existing mesh-topcurtains are shown. These all include a fairly wide panel of wovenmaterial forming a mesh to allow water from sprinklers and the like topass through, in the case of, for example, a fire or other emergency.

As mentioned above, problems have been identified with such curtainarrangements, including difficulties in manufacture and difficulties indisposing of and recycling the curtains, as well as the fact that themesh materials do not meet the high degree of openness required undersome safety regulations, for example at least in some states of theU.S.A.

A curtain that is safe, yet provides privacy, is relatively simple andinexpensive to manufacture and recycle is described below.

Turning now to FIG. 2, here, a section of curtain is shown.

The curtain 1 is arranged to be mounted on a curtain rail 2 by means ofhooks or clips 3.

In the embodiment shown, the curtain hooks are attached, at one end, tothe curtain through eyelets 4 in the curtain material and the other endof the curtain hook is adapted to be fitted onto or into a curtain rail.Various types of hooks are known but, for the purposes of the presentinvention, any type of attachment for the curtain can be used. Hooks canalso, for example, be welded onto the curtain material, rather thanattached through eyelets.

The main drape or panel 5 of the curtain is made, in this example, of apolypropylene material but can, in less preferred embodiments, be madeof other known materials. For privacy/discretion, the main panel of thecurtain is not transparent.

The material of the main drape of the curtain is preferably washable orwipeable and, more preferably, disposable and recyclable.

In the most preferred embodiment, the material of the curtain drape is,or is treated to be, fire retardant.

The curtain is also provided with a top part 6, preferably made of thesame material as the main panel, although a different, perhaps stronger,material can be used, for this part of the curtain which is attached tothe curtain rail by means of curtain hooks. In less preferredembodiments, such a top part is not required.

Again, as mentioned above, in the embodiment shown, eyelets are providedin the top of the curtain material through which curtain hooks can beattached for attachment to a curtain rail. Other ways of attaching thecurtain to the rail are possible, e.g. by welding or otherwisepermanently attaching the hooks to the rail.

Between the top, attachment portion, and the main panel of the curtainis provided a mesh panel 7 formed of a bi-oriented polypropylenematerial made of fine strands formed into a mesh having a high degree ofopenness.

It is most preferred that this panel is towards the top of the curtainbut advantages could also be provided if the panel were provided inother parts of the curtain, e.g. along the bottom or a middle portion oras a vertical panel somewhere along the width of the curtain.

The mesh can be attached to the main panel in any known manner, forexample by means of adhesion, welding, stitching or the like.

The overall curtain is sufficiently soft, flexible and pliable that thewhole curtain can be easily opened or closed by sliding the curtainhooks along the rail. The same features can, of course, be provided in afixed curtain mounted onto a frame, whereby the frame is moved to theappropriate position.

Curtains according to the present invention can be easily and compactlypackaged and transported and then mounted onto curtain rails, asappropriate. The curtains can then be easily removed and disposed of andeasily recycled.

In use, the curtains provide sufficient privacy, whilst meeting fireregulations in providing a high degree of openness due to thebi-oriented polypropylene material.

1. A privacy curtain assembly comprising: a curtain rail defining aninner privacy area; an attachment portion; a plurality of connectorsremovably attaching said attachment portion to said curtain rail; a mainpanel located below said curtain rail and formed of a non-transparentmaterial; a mesh panel attached to said main panel, said mesh panelcomprising bi-directional strands of polypropylene forming a meshmaterial defining a plurality of openings having an openness sufficientto allow the passage of water through said openings into said innerprivacy area; wherein at least one of said main panel or said mesh panelis attached to said attachment portion.
 2. The privacy curtain assemblyof claim 1 wherein said material of said main panel, said mesh panel andsaid attachment portion is a polypropylene material.
 3. The privacycurtain assembly of claim 1 wherein said material of said main panel,said mesh panel and said attachment portion is fire retardant.
 4. Theprivacy curtain assembly of claim 1 wherein said material of said mainpanel, said mesh panel and said attachment portion is washable.
 5. Theprivacy curtain assembly of claim 1 wherein said material of said mainpanel, said mesh panel and said attachment portion is recyclable.
 6. Theprivacy curtain assembly of claim 1 wherein said strands of said meshmaterial have a diameter of 0.3 mm.
 7. The privacy curtain assembly ofclaim 1 wherein said plurality of openings measure 6.8 mm×7.3 mm.
 8. Theprivacy curtain assembly of claim 1 wherein said plurality of openingsallow for 90% openness.
 9. The privacy curtain assembly of claim 1wherein said connectors are curtain hooks.
 10. The privacy curtainassembly of claim 1 wherein said connectors are clips.
 11. A privacycurtain for removable attachment to a curtain rail comprising: a meshpanel having first and second sides and comprising bi-directionalstrands of polypropylene forming a mesh material, wherein said strandsdefine a plurality of openings of a sufficient degree of openness toallow passage of water through said first side and past said secondside; a main panel formed of a non-transparent material and attached tosaid mesh panel, wherein said main panel and said mesh panel define aunitary length of material having a topmost edge, wherein at least oneof said main panel or said mesh panel defines said topmost edge; aplurality of connector points located adjacent substantially the entirelength of said topmost edge.
 12. The privacy curtain of claim 11 whereinsaid mesh panel and said main panel are formed of a polypropylenematerial.
 13. The privacy curtain of claim 11 wherein said main paneland said mesh panel are formed of a fire retardant material.
 14. Theprivacy curtain of claim 11 wherein said main panel, and said mesh panelare formed of a washable material.
 15. The privacy curtain of claim 11wherein said main panel, and said fine mesh panel are formed of arecyclable material.
 16. The privacy curtain of claim 11 wherein saidstrands have a diameter of 0.3 mm.
 17. The privacy curtain of claim 11wherein said plurality of openings measure 6.8 mm×7.3 mm.
 18. Theprivacy curtain of claim 11 wherein said plurality of openings allow for90% openness.
 19. The privacy curtain of claim 11 wherein said connectorpoints are eyelets.
 20. The privacy curtain of claim 11 wherein saidconnector points are curtain hooks welded proximate said topmost edge.